exocad vs inLab: which dental CAD fits your lab
exocad vs inLab compared for dental labs: open and closed workflows, modules, implant work, milling and printing integration, licensing and training.
Labs that mill on Dentsply Sirona machines often ask whether they should stay with inLab or move to exocad. Both are complete dental CAD systems for crowns, bridges, implant work and removables, and the right answer depends less on the software than on the rest of the lab: which scanners send the cases, which machines produce them and how many partners the lab works with. This comparison of exocad vs inLab is for lab owners and technicians making that choice.
Two different ideas of a lab
inLab is the lab software of Dentsply Sirona. It is designed as part of a chain: scans come from Primescan and CEREC, the design is done in inLab, and the restoration is milled on a CEREC Primemill or inLab MC X5, with surgical guides designed and produced through CEREC Guide. Inside that chain everything is coordinated, from material blocks to milling strategies.
exocad DentalCAD is designed as an open system. It reads scans from almost any intraoral or lab scanner, exports to a long list of mills and printers through machine presets, and is sold through resellers who often bundle it with a scanner from another brand. A lab can change scanner or mill without changing the CAD.
Neither approach is better in itself. A lab that receives most work from CEREC clinics and mills in-house on Dentsply Sirona machines gets real benefits from inLab. A lab with clinics using different scanners, or that sends work to several milling centers, usually finds exocad easier to fit.
Modules and indications
Both systems are modular. inLab CAD is sold as a basic package with modules such as Implantology for abutments and bars, Removables for dentures and splints, and Interface for STL import and export. Dentsply Sirona distributes the licenses through its dealers.
exocad DentalCAD has a core for crowns and bridges and add-on modules for implants, bars, full dentures, smile design, model creation, the virtual articulator and more. Licenses come as perpetual or flex, explained in exocad licenses: perpetual vs flex.
| Topic | inLab | exocad |
|---|---|---|
| Scanner input | Best with Dentsply Sirona scanners, STL through the Interface module | Most intraoral and lab scanners |
| Production | Tight integration with Primemill and inLab MC X5 | Presets for many mills and printers |
| Tooth proposals | Jaw-oriented biogeneric setting (J.O.B.S.) from the existing dentition | Tooth libraries with anatomic adaptation |
| Implants | Implantology module | Implant module with libraries from many manufacturers |
| Sold through | Dentsply Sirona dealers | exocad resellers |
Implant work and third-party libraries
For implant work the difference is in the libraries. exocad has a wide ecosystem of implant libraries from the implant makers and from compatible component suppliers, installed into the software folders as described in exocad implant library installation. inLab supports implant work through its Implantology module and the components available for it, including the Dentsply Sirona implant systems such as DS PrimeTaper.
A lab that works with many implant systems should check before choosing whether each system and component it uses is available in the CAD, in the version it needs. The regulatory side is covered in MDR and implant-compatible design files.
Production: milling and printing
Inside the Dentsply Sirona chain, inLab knows the machine, the block and the milling strategy, which reduces setup and errors. exocad sends the design to a CAM or directly to a machine through presets, and that open route needs more setup when a new machine arrives, with more freedom in return.
For printing, both export to printers, and exocad has its own module for printed models, covered in exocad Model Creator.
Training and support
Changing CAD costs time in the first months. Technicians coming from inLab already know the logic of margins, insertion axes and connectors, and what changes is where the tools are and how many options there are. A one-day course on the real cases of the lab shortens that phase. The exocad training page describes the program, and remote exocad support helps once the lab is working.
For a broader comparison with 3Shape and Blender for Dental, see exocad vs 3Shape vs Blender for Dental.
Sources
- Dentsply Sirona, inLab CAD software
- exocad, DentalCAD
Frequently asked questions
Is inLab a closed system?
inLab is built around the Dentsply Sirona chain of scanners, CEREC Guide, Primemill and inLab MC X5 mills, and that is where it works best. The Interface module adds STL import and export, so files from and to other systems can be exchanged, but the deepest integration stays inside the Dentsply Sirona hardware.
Can an inLab lab switch to exocad later?
Yes. Cases already completed stay where they are, and new work starts in exocad with the scans exported as STL or received directly from the clinics' portals. Material and machine settings have to be set up again for the new chain, and the team needs time to learn the new interface.
Which is easier to learn, exocad or inLab?
Both guide the user through a case step by step, and a technician who knows one learns the other quickly. inLab is simpler when the whole chain is Dentsply Sirona. exocad has more options to learn, which is why a structured course shortens the first months.